Columbia: 4:3 in the US yet 16:9 in Europe (1 Viewer)

[Chris Stone]

the following recent Columbia releases were 4:3 full-frame in the US yet great looking anamorphic transfer in Europe - WHY?

Perfect - 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen
The Principal - 1.85:1 anamorphc widescreen
Mo Money - 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen

why do americans have to suffer 4:3 hell why Europe get 16:9?

anyone know ?

 

[John J Nelson]

Probably because of the predomination (and wider acceptance) of 16:9 TVs and widescreen TV broadcasts in Europe.
America is most definitely still 4:3-land when it comes to TV :frowning:
-- J.

 

[Thomas Agermose]

Another reason is that most TV stations show movies in
letteboxed format (at least here in Denmark). People are used to the letterbox format.

Here in Denmark a public service channel got sued for
showing Three Days of the Condor in P/S back som years ago.
Because of that they switched to OAR and even had a small introduction in front of the movies showing why the black bars were there.

Even the rental videos are mostly in OAR these days.

So when DVD arrived the public was already used to OAR from TV and VHS. I guess the studios just give people what they want.

 

[David Lambert]

Here in Denmark a public service channel got sued for
showing Three Days of the Condor in P/S back som years ago.
Because of that they switched to OAR and even had a small introduction in front of the movies showing why the black bars were there.

Any pro-OAR lawyers here on HTF? Wanna take a shot at a class action suit?

 

[MikeEckman]

If someone can tell me that Europe gets a 16x9 enhanced version of Road to Wellville and Toy Soldiers, I will be getting a multi-region player.

 

[Lance Rumbolt]

Especially when you can buy a good 32 in panny tau for under £600 in the UK, all of a sudden you have a massive market.

Just a quick wander thru a local cuurys and you see widescreen sets 10-1 over 4:3.

Even Blockbuster are into widescreen over hear!

Lance UK.

 

[Douglas R]

Here in Denmark a public service channel got sued for

Similarly Turner Broadcasting stopped showing colorised movies on their European channel TNT (now TCM) when the French threatened legal action!

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

See? See?! It's true! Europeans ARE smarter than Americans! They all accept widescreen, and they all know the black bars aren't covering something up, and aren't annoyed by them! Why is it that the DVD buyers in the U.S. don't understand widescreen, and the ones in Europe do?

 

[LarryH]

I suppose it's just way too much trouble to put both versions on releases in the US. I guess that would make it possible for some ignoramus to run the widescreen version and just get all tromatized.

This certainly eliminates the chance that I will ever pre-order any Columbia DVD before I see a review and am assured it is OAR.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Add "84 Charing Cross Road" to that list. I'll be buying this R2 version since this is a favorite of mine. DOWN with PAN & SCAN!!

 

[Michael St. Clair]

See? See?! It's true! Europeans ARE smarter than Americans! They all accept widescreen, and they all know the black bars aren't covering something up, and aren't annoyed by them! Why is it that the DVD buyers in the U.S. don't understand widescreen, and the ones in Europe do?

Some european friends, and a couple of european forum members, have told me that it is very common for broadcasts of 4:3 and 2.35:1 material to be cropped to 16:9. Screw understanding widescreen, let's have all OAR, all the time.
They also don't have HDTV.
And some R2 and R4 DVD releases have been pan and scan when R1 got OAR. Hitchcock comes to mind. And look at R4 Harry Potter!
Also, many films that are uncut in the US are censored in the UK.
No matter where you live, there are advantages and disadvantages.

 

[David Lambert]

No matter where you live, there are advantages and disadvantages.

Not when you live the - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - ahem, the wonderous world of HTFLand.


Back on my meds...

 

[Ted Todorov]

Also, many films that are uncut in the US are censored in the UK.

Keep in mind that the U.K. does not equal R2. France does not censor and has a larger and better DVD selection than the U.K.

The best thing for the educated DVD consumer to do is to have multi-standard/multi-region capability and pick up the best DVD version for each film -- regardless of country/region. In the Internet age there are no secrets, you just need to look.

Ted

 

[CamiloCamacho]

Keep in mind that the U.K. does not equal R2. France does not censor and has a larger and better DVD selection than the U.K.

Multi Region Player = Best presentation in the world and OAR in almost every title . Why there is still people in the forum without a Multi Region Player

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

Well, I don't have multi-region because I don't need it. All my favorite films are available in great editions in R1. But if I ever need it, I will get an all-region PAL/NTSC-compatible DVD player.

 

[Patrick McCart]

It's not surprising that the French support OAR.
After all, the man who invented CinemaScope was Henri Chrieten (Sic?), which virtually changed aspect ratios for history. Even cooler...he was inspired by the tryptichs of Abel Gance's Napoleon (Gance is a Frenchman as well) to make an anamorphic widescreen process.
Oh yeah... Georges Melies (again, French) created a few special effects processes which seem to have impacted most cinema since then.

 

[Julian Lalor]

Any pro-OAR lawyers here on HTF? Wanna take a shot at a class action suit?

Not until the US introduces moral rights legislation along the lines of that in place in Europe. I don't know who would have sued over Three Days of the Condor, though. Certainly not the Studio (who would have supplied the master). Sydney Pollack, perhaps.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

After all, the man who invented CinemaScope was Henri Chrieten (Sic?), which virtually changed aspect ratios for history. Even cooler...he was inspired by the tryptichs of Abel Gance's Napoleon (Gance is a Frenchman as well) to make an anamorphic widescreen process.

Hell; if you want to go back further, two French brothers brought cinema itself to the masses.

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

As for Three days of the condor, I think I remember the news, and I think the director indeed did have some kind of clause in a contract that the movie should only be shown OAR. So by broadcasting a P&S version the TV channel was actually in breach of their contract, thus they could be sued without problems.
Which goes to show again that directors can have impact, if the movie is what they care about the most in the end...

 

[Neil Joseph]

For a nation that has movies as a major part of its culture (I include Canada in this), North America is really backwards in this respect of accepting widescreen. Unfortunately the studios are thinking of their wallets when making marketing decisions.